


But It's a Really Long Song

by viktory_arts



Series: The Basketball Girl's 'Verse [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: ADD Lizzy Phenton, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorder, Attempt at Humor, Author thinks they're a lot funnier than they are, Autism, Autistic Nova Andrews, Basketball, Bisexuality, Child Neglect, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Dyslexia, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Growing Up, Hard of Hearing Karla Oxford, High School, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Smut, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Internalized Homophobia, LGBTQ Themes, Learning Disabilities, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Mutual Pining, Non-Binary Nova Andrews, Physical Disability, Physically Disabled Coach Seaburg, Puberty, References to Depression, Secret Crush, Self-Acceptance, Sexuality Crisis, Sibling Bonding, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Slut Shaming, Social Anxiety, Socially Awkward Romina Esperanza, Sports, Stuttering, Team as Family, Trans Character, lesbian/gay solidarity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21942994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viktory_arts/pseuds/viktory_arts
Summary: Lizzy Phenton is a freshmen with a pretty weird family. Her mom is a spacey, never there druggie and her dad a loving, fatherly prostitute. Her twin brother, Markus, is an extremely smart boy, well on his way to being valedictorian. Lizzy, by contrast, is struggling with the "dumb kids" classes. The principal, Mr. MacNamara, believes that putting her with people who are good influences will help her break out of her shell a little bit. Maybe even make her less spacey and testy with her attitude.In this, Lizzy soon comes to find friends, romance, and a family she never asked for, but loves anyway with all of her heart, and who, in turn, love her with all their heart as well.
Relationships: Charlotte Tanyard & Anthony Pines, Charlotte Tanyard/ Original Male Character(s), Coach Seaburg & The Johnathan Basketball Team, Eventual Romantic Relationship(s), Everyone & Everyone, Lacie Hart & Evelyn Huffman, Lacie Hart/Evelyn Huffman, Lizzy Phenton & Everyone, Lizzy Phenton & Markus Phenton, Lizzy Phenton & Romina Esperanza, Lola Valdez & Noey Valdez, Mayu Ito & Jaqueline Kamiki, Nova Andrews/Markus Phenton, Planchette Goings & Idris Zevada, Rosamie Mims & Analyn Mims & Darna Mims, Solvo Pines & Anthony Pines, Solvo Pines & Karla Oxford, Starr Adams & Salma Garcia
Series: The Basketball Girl's 'Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579999
Kudos: 1





	1. Planchette Goings: Home Ec

Planchette sat, rolling her pencil in her fingers with a bored expression on her face. The teacher was going on and on about something or other, but Planchette couldn't be bothered to focus on that. She was too busy daydreaming about what she was going to do after school, how she will have to cook for her brothers while her mother does some sort of experimental drug in the bathroom or living room. Hopefully not the kitchen, Plachette muses, she didn't want to take her mother to the hospital again and get the C.P.S on their asses again. Maybe her father would even be home, like he said he’d be three years ago. Hmm… 

Planchette was broken from her musings as Lizzy Phenton walked through the door, and yup, she was about ten minutes late again. Planchette smiled a tad at the continuity of it, the familiarity of it. Lizzy Phenton, the school's devil-child whose parents were a crack addict and a prostitute respectively, walked in late, followed closely by her twin brother, Markus. They would get scolded by the teacher, who took pity on them, and sit silently next to each other in the back row near Planchette. 

The Phentons were quite the pair, the brother of the two being the top in the school's academics, while Lizzy struggled with the "dumb-kid" classes. The only reason the twins were together in Planchette's class was because this was it was a Home Ec class; a class that had only one level of difficulty: easy.

Romina Esperanza, a nice transfer student from Uruguay, looked at the gloomy twins with a bitten lip. She always looked at the twins, especially Lizzy with such a sad look in her eyes. Planchette guessed it was because of their past and Romina’s kind-hearted soul was sympathetic towards them.

Honestly, Planchette  _ also _ felt for the two twins, knowing what it’s like to have a shitty family. She really, really did. But what she couldn’t handle was the way Lizzy handled it. Her brother handled it like a champ, Planchette assumed. He  _ was _ the one getting straight A’s and well on his way to being valedictorian. Lizzy, however, was failing every class and had a testy attitude on good days. She was an asshole to anyone who tried to be kind to her, which just pissed Planchette off. One time about two years ago, Romina had tried to comfort Lizzy when the bags underneath her eyes were darker than normal and her usually sharp dark blue eyes were dull and lifeless. Lizzy had snapped, hard. 

She ran her mouth off greatly to Romina, someone who didn’t deserve it. Romina, with her soft heart, was crying by the end of whatever bullshit Lizzy had spewed from her mouth; as far as Planchette knew, she never did apologize for her behavior..  _ That’s _ what made Planchette so uneasy and angry at the younger girl. No matter how shitty your life is, it doesn’t excuse being an absolute  _ dick _ to those who just wanted to help.

Idris Zevada, Planchette’s best friend, eventually made the girl lost in thought ‘wake up’, broken from her train of thought that was surely not about Home Ec. 

“What’s got you in such deep thought, hm?” Idris smiled kindly at Planchette, her blazing blue eyes striking against her undershaved, tied-up-in-a-ponytail black hair. Idris looked at her previous gaze of vision towards the Phenton twins, and she nodded knowingly.

“Lemme guess: you’re getting all pissy about that Lizzy girl again.” Idris rolled her eyes and grinned when Planchette shoved her, almost making her knock down the metal appliances on the counters.

“Shut it, you.” Planchette play-growled and poked Idris in the side, making the taller girl curl over for a second and burst out a surprised laugh. Ms. Finch’s gaze swiftly turned towards the girls and the two straightened up immediately. Ms. Finch was terrifying when she was mad, even with her five-foot-two stature and plump body. No one dared make her upset in any way, all of them learning that after the “Monday Morning Massacre”.

“Do I need to separate you two?” She asked with a crispness to her words. 

“No ma’am.” They both answered in tandem, and Ms. Finch was seemingly in a good mood that day, as she just nodded and moved onto explaining whatever they were going to be doing again.

Planchette looked at Idris, who stuck her tongue out, which made Planchette smile slightly. 

Maybe she’ll just order pizza for the boys tonight.


	2. Lola and Noey: The Empty House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lola and Noey come home to an empty house.

Lola was surprised when she got home with her twin, Noey, to a silent house. Not a peep was heard as Noey set the keys down on their old oaken coffee table in the small living room.

“Did Mary say anything about not everyone being home?” Lola asked, setting her backpack in her and Noey’s shared room. Her twin shook her head and Lola bit her lip, trying to think about what they could’ve forgotten.

“Wait, isn’t it Mike’s birthday today?” Noey questioned, and Lola let out a small gasp.

“Shit, you’re right. You have the present, right?” Lola scrambled to look for the cheap birthday card she’d found at  _ Dollar General _ a handful of days prior. 

“Yeah, it’s in the memory trunk. Mike won’t touch the thing with a ten-foot pole. I think he’s convinced that we have porn mags in there, and not super-sentimental shit from our childhood.” Noey joked and searched through their pantry for a snack. 

“Did Mary go shopping yet?” Noey called out when Lola stepped through the small doorway from the hallway into the kitchen. She was holding a note, and by the crisp, smooth handwriting it was probably Mary’s.

“No, she hasn’t gone yet, she went last Friday, we’ve got until Friday till she goes again.” Lola answered absentmindedly. Noey sighed and closed the pantry with a soft  _ thud _ . Lola suddenly crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the overflowing trash can.

“What’d it say?” Noey asked as she put a hand on Lola’s shoulder in passing to go and get the piece of paper that fell off the mountain of garbage that,  _ wow _ , really needed to be taken out. Sheesh.

Noey thumbed the paper, uncrumpling it as she did so, smoothing out the sides with her long fingers.

_ Dear Lola and Noey, _

_ We’re out celebrating Mike’s birthday tonight. He said he just wanted to spend it with the little ones today, he didn’t want to wait till all our favorite spots were filled, we know how guys have to stay after school most days for detention. (We’ll talk about that later, trust me). _

_ There’s fifteen dollars on the counter if you guys get hungry. Mark Pi’s should be open till 8 tonight, treat yourselves ladies! _

_ Love, Mary _

“Hmph.” Noey crumbled the paper and tossed it into the pile of trash again. Lola nodded while she had her head resting on her forearm. She was breathing a little unsteadily. Noey sighed and walked over to her twin, and sat in the creaky chair beside her. She put her arm over her shoulders, squeezing them when she felt a small hiccup erupt from the other twin.

“What do we have to do to be included in this damn f-family!” Lola sobbed quietly, muffed from her face being stuffed into her arms. Noey rubbed small circles into her sister’s shoulders.

“I dunno, Bologna Loly.” She used the nickname that she gave her twin in the early years of their foster care days. 

They never had any abusive foster parents, per se. Just ones that didn’t really care much for them. When they got adopted by the Valdez’s, they thought their lives would change greatly, as the Valdez already had a pretty hefty family consisting of three brothers and two sisters. They weren’t a rich family, but they got by and never went hungry. 

Lola and Noey just… weren’t apart of their family. They were taken care of, sure, but they were never included in family events. They were on the Christmas cards, but while Micah, the youngest being ten months old, got a huge paragraph and all the other kids got long, separate paragraphs on the card, Lola and Noey got one that was maybe two sentences and they were each one sentence about one of the girls. 

Noey took this better than Lola, knowing from the start that this family wouldn’t be their  _ family _ . Just someone that takes care of them, a guardian. She knew that they’d help minimally pay for their apartment when the twins moved out and would help with college funds for a couple of years until they were on their feet, but they would never have a long sit-down, a talk with them about what they were going to do with their futures. They’d never have a sense of familial love like Lola and Noey did, and Noey was at peace with that. They just weren’t family like that.

Lola, on the other hand, was heartbroken every time they were excluded from family events. She cried at night often, feeling unloved even though her sister tried her best to love her with all her being. It just wasn’t the same as having more than one person in the world that loves you, it wasn’t like having an entire family that loves you.

Noey gripped Lola’s shoulders and leaned in close and hugged her tightly. 

“It’s okay, I know. I know.” Noey said the sweet nothings into her sister’s ear, hoping that they could offer some semblance of comfort. The twin suddenly looked at the paper on the table, labeled  _ Jonathan Highschool Girls Basketball Admission Form.  _ She looked at her teary sister and tried for a subject change.

“Hey, Lola?” The twin who was called upon looked up at Noey with red, puffy eyes. She sniffled.

“Yeah?” Lola followed her gaze and her smile became something a little more nostalgic. 

“Again with the basketball team?” Noey grinned in response.

“Why not? It’s not like we have anything else to do, and we may make some new friends, y’know?” Noey said and her grip tightened on her sister’s shoulder. Lola looked in thought for a moment before nodding her head with a smile.

“Sure, why not?” Her eyes were still red-rimmed and swollen, and her voice was choking on mucus, but Noey knew in that moment she had made the right decision with the light and airy smile on her sister’s face.

Things  _ were _ going to get better.


	3. Mayu Ito, Jaqueline Kamiki, and Lizzy Phenton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzy has something she has to ask the captain of the basketball team, Mayu Ito.

The  _ thump thump thump _ of the basketball hitting the floor as Mayu held her hand up for her follow-through, sweat beading down her pale face, sounded like magic to her ears. She smiled brightly into the fluorescent lights above. She put her arm down when she heard the gym door open, turning to look at the source of the movement. 

Lizzy Phenton, the talk of the school, walked through, angry expression and bad attitude in tow. 

Mayu was surprised, to say the least when she saw the small girl making her way towards her, Lizzy’s fists clenched tightly, her steps faint, even against the echoing of the gym’s roominess. 

Jaqueline, having seen the girl walking in, looked to Mayu, a question in her bright green eyes.  _ “Do you need help?”  _ Mayu locked gazes with her for a second, but then decidedly shook her head  _ “No” _ .

“How can I help you, Ms. Phenton?” Mayu said to the freshmen when she got close enough for a comfortable talking distance. Lizzy mumbled, her already tightly clenched fists tightening even more than before. Mayu was a little nervous that Lizzy would cause her hands to bleed if she kept that up.

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” Mayu requested kindly, hoping for the girl not to take offense to her poor hearing, even if it was Lizzy’s fault for talking so quietly.

“Mr. MacNamara said I needed to join a- an extracurricular.” She paused, and Mayu gave her a look with a gentle “go-on” look about it. “So I decided basketball.” She trailed off at the end, and it dawned on Mayu.

_ She’s nervous. _

Mayu, now with this revelation, smiles softly at the young girl before her, and nods slightly.

“Alright. We start next Wednesday, the 28th.” Lizzy looked a little lost at the sudden acceptance of her being on the team. She then put on her normal expression, one of cool aloofness, with the corners of her lips and her eyebrows dipped-down slightly.

“W-What-” Lizzy cut herself off, blushing slightly at her stuttering and her face goes a little angrier than before, no doubt frustrated with herself. Mayu merely waited patiently, hoping that being quiet would help more than pressuring her to answer by prompting her.

“What do I n-need to bring to practice?” She asked softly and quietly. Mayu thought for a moment.

“Well, you’ll need basketball shoes, sports clothes, basketball socks, a water bottle…” Lizzy waited quietly as she waited for Mayu to finish her thought, beginning to chew on the inside of her cheek while she did wait. She hated talking to people, especially when they got all quiet and left a huge silence. She never knew if she was supposed to fill it or not? Is that what you’re supposed to do?

“...Hey, are you listening?” Mayu asked with a concerned look on her face. Lizzy snapped out of her thoughts and blushed profusely, glaring down at the floor. What does she do now? It was so rude of her not to listen! What is she supposed to do? She  _ can’t  _ say she wasn’t paying attention! What…

While Lizzy was working herself up into quite the tizzy, Mayu looked at the girl, and saw her chest heaving up and down a little bit more than normal, her breaths coming short and quick. Mayu immediately realized what was going on and began to talk quietly to the girl.

“Hey, it’s alright. No harm done, yeah?” She said and Lizzy whipped her head up from glaring at the ground to glaring at her. Mayu had to admit, Lizzy could put on quite the mean face if she wanted to, if it wasn’t for her eyes that were sparkling in frustration, and tears welling up at the edges of her dark blue eyes. 

“Hey, calm down, it’s alright Lizzy. I’ll just repeat what I said, okay?” Mayu spoke calmly to the silently freaking out girl. “It’s no big, don’t sweat it.” Lizzy’s guarded look was back full force, and her breathing seemed to be back under control.

Mayu cleared her throat and repeated what she said, going over to her bag as she did so, Lizzy tailing not very far behind.

“You’ll need to have one of your parents sign this permission slip, do a physical, and pay the pay-to-play fee.” Mayu said and handed Lizzy the papers. 

“You can get a physical at the school for free on the 26th. Just make sure you hand me or Coach Seaburg the physical before the 28th, otherwise you can’t play until you get it in.” Lizzy nodded and sorted through the papers with a careful eye. She then nodded her head again, probably in affirmation.

“Thank you.” Lizzy quietly mumbled, and turned around to the big gym doors and exited, letting the weighted door close silently behind her. Jaqueline, who had been practicing shooting up until now, walked her way over to Mayu and gave her a questioning look.

“What’d Phenton want?” She asked, though Mayu was sure that she had been eavesdropping on them. Mayu shrugged.

“Mr. MacNamara wanted her to join an extracurricular, so she chose the basketball team.” Mayu said simply and jogged lightly over to her forgotten ball on the floor, picking it up and dribbling it lazy as she stalked back over to a lost-in-thought Jaqueline.

“Hmm, I’ve heard some rumors that Phenton and Goings don’t get along real well.” She gave Starr a look. “That could cause a lotta problems.” Jaqueline turned to the basket again and set up to shoot. It bounced off the rim slightly, and fell to the floor with a resounding  _ thud. _

“Personally, I’m not too fond of the girl either. The few times I’ve seen ‘er she’s been yellin’ at something or other, or not payin’ attention in class.” Jaqueline paused. “‘Course, I don’t know the girl all that well, so I can’t be certain of ‘er.” Mayu sighed and went over to pick up the ball that Jaqueline had just shot. She passed the ball back to Jaqueline, who responded with a quick  _ “thank you”. _

“Want my opinion?” Mayu asked, and Jaqueline nodded with a small  _ “‘Course.” _

“I think that Lizzy just has a rough life. Plain and simple.” Jaqueline moved her mouth to interrupt, but Mayu held a pale hand up in response. “It doesn’t excuse her actions, especially for yelling and getting pissy with those who don’t deserve it. But,” Mayu paused, “if you would’ve seen her a minute ago, I think you’d be on the same page as me. I think her anger is just misinterpreted.” Jaqueline raised one thick black eyebrow and her deep brown eyes asked the question for her.

“She was really anxious when she was talking to me. She got really mad at herself when she messed up a couple words.” Jaqueline opened her mouth into a tiny “o”, getting what Mayu was saying.

“So yer sayin’ that Phenton’s probably just anxious, an’ that’s why she’s so pissy all o’ the time?” Jaqueline said and Mayu nodded and smiled. 

“Yeah, but,” Mayu sighed, “she always could just be a jerk anyways. That  _ was _ the first time I’ve talked to her, after all.” Jaqueline shrugged and shot the ball again, this time it made it with a gentle  _ swoosh _ of the net.

“Guess we’ll find out next Wednesday.” Jaqueline said simply and Mayu smiled and nodded.

“Suppose you’re right.” She ran to the ball cart, unaware of the watchful eyes of Lizzy Phenton watching the two girls from the small crack in the door. As Mayu ran forwards to grab another ball, Lizzy shut it gently and speed-walked away from the gym for real this time.

Mayu thought she saw the door move, but when it didn’t for another second, she shrugged it off and went to pick up another basketball, not thinking anything of the slightly-weird occurrence. 


	4. Solvo Pines: Algebra 1 and Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solvo Pines sits right next to Lizzy Phenton, the school's worst student. How well do they work together? Well...

Solvo sat next to Lizzy Phenton in Algebra 1. She was partners with her. Which was all fine and dandy except  _ Lizzy never talked. Or did the work. _ Solvo was a pretty shy, mild-mannered person on most days. She was cursed with a permanent blush and baby face, much like her brother, Anthony. But when Lizzy outright refused to listen to Solvo when she was asking a question to her face, well, Solvo got done with that pretty quick.

“Hey, um, Lizzy?” Lizzy’s face didn’t even twitch, but you can bet Solvo’s eye did. Repeatedly.

“Hey Lizzy!” Solvo whisper-yelled, and Lizzy finally seemed to snap out of her zoning out. Lizzy’s eyes widened for a second, searching the room like she didn’t know where she was, before she settled her eyes on Solvo and relaxed slightly. Her expression of complete blankness didn’t change, no, but her eyes  _ were _ trained on Solvo. Progress.

“We have to do this worksheet,” Solvo pushed said worksheet towards the short black-haired girl. Lizzy’s dark blue eyes trained on the paper, and Solvo saw a grimace when the girl had seen what was on the page. Not a good sign.

“W-What-” Lizzy cut herself off, and her expression darkened. Solvo sat confused and waited for the girl to continue. Lizzy cleared her throat/

“What is this?” Lizzy asked and Solvo felt a groan trying to make its way up through her body. But Solvo kept a gentle expression on her face, trying not to look absolutely ticked at the lack of attentiveness from the other freshmen.

“It’s slope-intercept form. The formula we’ve been working on for a couple of weeks now.” When Lizzy’s slightly confused expression didn’t change, Solvo sighed internally.

“It’s ‘y=mx+b, remember?” Lizzy nodded her head, but slowly enough that Solvo  _ knew _ the other teen had absolutely  _ no _ idea what she was going on about. Solvo tried her best to not make a frustrated noise, but a small one made its way out, and Lizzy’s expression flinched.

“...Sorry.” Lizzy mumbled and Solvo sighed a little bit and put on a tired smile.

“It’s fine. Here,” she picked up her pencil and twirled it once in her hands, “I’ll help you, it’s really not that hard, don’t worry.” Lizzy nodded and picked up her pencil as well, her frizzy black hair making a curtain around her face, hiding whatever expression she had.

As Solvo began to work her way through the worksheet Mrs. Fletcher had given them, she turned her head towards Lizzy, who had her face in her hands, and was breathing slightly off. Solvo’s eyes widened, and she put her hand on Lizzy’s shoulder, making the other girl freeze completely.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Do you not understand it? If so that’s fine-” Solvo tried to complace Lizzy, just saying things to make her feel better.

“Shut up! I understand it just fine! Get off of me and bug off!” Lizzy suddenly stood up from her chair, knocking Solvo’s hand off her shoulder in the process. The angry teen had tears threatening to spring at the corners of her eyes. 

Solvo felt a tinge of annoyance, but mostly pity for the girl. Mrs. Fletcher and all the other students turned to look at the standing girl, some of them giggling while others just rolled their eyes and turned back to their work. Mrs. Fletcher just sighed, and pointed to the door.

“Phenton, to Mr. MacNamara.” Lizzy’s fist clenched and her head was turned towards the floor, her shoulders tight and up high as she made her way out of the classroom. After she left, all of the students either made little noises and talked about the event that just took place, or turned back to their work.

Solvo turned to the seat where Lizzy had been sitting and looked at the paper Lizzy had been working on. As she read it over, she realized all of the mistakes on the page. 

Simple addition and subtraction seemed fine, but once she looked past that, she realized that Lizzy had  _ no  _ idea what to do with the numbers. She was adding unlike-terms, multiplying where she should’ve been dividing, stuff like that. Solvo could see that it wasn’t because Lizzy wasn’t trying, no, not that at _ all _ . No, it seemed that Lizzy just… didn’t know.

“Hmm…” Solvo thought as she looked at the books Lizzy had left. A thought sprang into Solvo’s mind, and she ripped off a small piece of paper from the scrap piece of paper that she had been doing her work on. She wrote a small note on it, and stuck it in Lizzy’s planner.

Class otherwise went on as per usual, the bell ringing about fifteen minutes after the event that had taken place. Solvo thought about the note she left for a second, and turned away and walked out of the classroom to her next class.

When Lizzy was released from the office and went to go and get her stuff, she opened her planner, filing through it to see what she had due next class. Homework she didn’t do…

Her eyebrows rose as she saw a note fall from her planner onto the tiled floor. She picked it up with delicate hands, afraid slightly of what it might say. Her eyes widened when she read the note and she furiously put the note back in her planner, and quickly walked to her next class, thinking of the note and what its contents had said.

_ Dear Lizzy, _

_Hey, I read your work after you left (sorry!) and I saw that there__  
_ _were a couple of places where I could help. You can give me a__  
_ _call anytime! I just won’t be able to answer between __  
_ _4:30-6:30pm on days after Oct. 28, as I have basketball. __  
_ _But call anytime!__  
__XXX-XXX-XXXX,__  
_ __Solvo Pines


	5. Charlotte Tanyard and Karla Oxford: The New Basketball Member

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte has a rough morning, and she gets told of the new member making her way onto the basketball team.

Charlotte Tanyard was  _ not _ having a good day. Her boyfriend of two weeks broke up with her that morning after he said that he had another girl on call for him. She then had to walk to school because her bus forgot her stop, and with her aunt already at work and all of her brothers either asleep since they were younger and had different school times or were in a different state altogether. 

Then, when she did finally make it to school, it was like every other day. Walking down the hall, she could hear catcalls from the boys and the whisperings of girls as she made her way to her locker.

_ “I heard she fucked Quentin on Thursday, even though she was dating Liam.” _

_ “Really? I heard she was fucking another boy every night. I heard if you pay her ten bucks, you can get a blowjob.” _

_ “I wouldn’t mind that sluts mouth on my dick; I mean she’s gotta be experienced, yeah?” _

Charlotte tried her best to ignore the people talking as she put her bookbag up. It was the usual rumors running around the gossip mill today: Charlotte Tanyard: the slut of Johnathan High. 

The strawberry-blonde girl sighed as she closed her locker. Karla Oxford, a junior in her year, was standing by it. She was consequently best friends with Anthony Pines and his sister, Solvo. Anthony had been one of Charlotte’s earliest boyfriends, one of the few she didn’t go much further than a simple and sweet cheek kiss. 

But that was before her parents decided that Charlotte wasn’t worth it anymore and up and ran away, leaving Charlotte with her workaholic Aunt Cheryl. 

Karla Oxford was a friend from the basketball team that Charlotte played on. She was their best shooter on the team, next to Mayu. They weren’t really all that close per se, but they knew each other well enough that they’d walk each other to class if for no other reason than to not look lonely for walking alone. 

“‘Sup, Charles?” Karla said as Charlotte began to walk to their shared class, CCP English with Mrs. Regal. Charlotte smiled a little sideways at her and shifted the books in her arms.

“Same as usual. How ‘bout you?” Karla hummed and thought for a second before responding.

“Okay, I guess. Are you excited for basketball?” Karla flitted around to the other side of Charlotte as the wrestlers were making their way down the hall from their morning practice, smelling something awful. Charlotte wrinkled her nose at the smell and shook her head, and turned her head to look slightly down at Karla.

“Yeah, I guess. I wonder what kind of freshies are gonna be on the team this year.” Charlotte and Karla arrived at their shared class and sat their books down at their seats. Charlotte took her seat and Karla walked over and pulled the unused chair in front of Charlotte to turn around and look at the strawberry-blonde girl. Karla’s bright blue eyes met hers.

“I heard from Mayu that Lizzy Phenton is joining the basketball team this year.” Charlotte’s eyes widened and she raised a brow.

“Is that so? How’d Mayu find this out?” Charlotte asked and Karla just shrugged in response.

“Mayu said that she’d come to talk to her. Something about how Mr. MacNamara said she needed to join an extracurricular.” Charlotte scrunched her eyes a bit a little confused.

“Why’d she need to join basketball though?” The strawberry-blonde asked and Karla just shrugged again, obviously as clueless as her. Just then, Mrs. Regal walked in and they heard the morning bell ring. The two basketball players exchanged a quick goodbye and Karla returned to her seat.

While class was going on, Charlotte was wondering why Lizzy had decided to join the basketball team of all things. Why? Basketball wasn’t the easiest sport  _ at all _ . If it’s her first year, it’s gonna be rough for her. 

Was she like Charlotte? Desperate to find friends and thought that something like basketball was going to be like the movies? A place where you can find a family in the team? Well, Charlotte snorted to herself, a damn shitty family they were. They stuck in their own groups, even during practices and barely talked to each other during school. Most of the team barely knew the seniors from last year, including Charlotte. Even though they had played together for three years, she had barely learned anything about them.

Maybe Lizzy would find out that a family needs to be friends before they can become a honest-to-god family. And from what Charlotte had heard about the raven-haired girl, she had trouble making friends with anyone besides her twin.

She was in for a rude awakening, Charlotte thought bitterly and chewed on the top of her pencil as she tuned back into whatever the teacher had been saying.

Charlotte didn’t think about it after that class period at all, too preoccupied with trying to ignore the snickers from the people around her that were most definitely about Charlotte’s rough morning breakup.

The strawberry-blonde girl turned her head towards the window and tried not to think of anything at all.


	6. The New Mims in Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mim sisters enter Johnathan High.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years, all! :)

Analyn, Darna, and Rosamie Mims were new to Johnathan High, coming in from a small town appropriately named Village Central. Rosamie was a freshmen, Analyn a sophomore, and Darna a junior. They were all fairly close when it came to sisters. Darna was pretty protective of her younger sisters, especially Rosamie, of whom is very gullible and looks at the world with wide-eyes, seeing the good in everything. Analyn was much more grounded in reality, a calm spirit against Rosamie’s childlike energy and Darna’s short fuse. 

It was no surprise that when the three sisters entered the red brick building of Johnathan High Rosamie ran off to find her locker, not waiting a second for her sisters that were trailing behind her.

“I’ll see you guys later! I gotta get my stuff to my locker and get to class!” Rosamie’s brown hair, tied tight into a high bun, bounced just as energetically as Rosamie herself. Analyn rolled her eyes a bit in amusement, soon waving a quick goodbye to Darna before strolling to her locker as well, with much less enthusiasm than the youngest.

Darna made her way to her locker, pausing for a second to see a girls basketball sign-up sheet pinned to the wall about four or five lockers down from her new locker. The junior put her bag away and grabbed one of her notebooks and tore a page out. She went over to the pinboard and looked at the information splayed before her.

_ Johnathan High Girls Basketball _

_ Coached by James Seaburg _

_ Admission Fee: $145 (But can be arranged for monetary issues, or for family plans) _

_ First Practice: October 28th, 4:30-6:30pm; First Game: November 29th, 6:00. _

_ For other additional information, contact the Johnathan High Athletic Board: _

_ XXX-XXX-XXXX _

_ Hope to see you there, girls! _

Darna smiled and wrote down the information and the number in her chicken scratch handwriting. She’d have to tell Rosamie and Analyn about this, they’d all finally be able to play together! 

As Darna daydreamed about this as she stuffed the note into her jean’s pocket, a light tap on her shoulder broke her from her wondering. 

The girl she turned to had deep brown skin and even darker, large, chocolate eyes. Her hair was weaved intricately with golden ribbons down the lengths of the black braids. Her smile was crooked, her teeth having a gap in between them, making her look involuntarily younger than she probably was. She had on a white muscle shirt with the  _ Nike _ swoosh on it, and a black sports bra. Her legs were covered with tight black joggers and she had on bright red converse. 

The girl’s golden hoop earrings swished through the air slightly as she held out a hand to Darna, who shook it with a little confusion. Why was she…?

“Hi, my name’s Jaqueline.” She nodded to the sheet of paper behind Darna. “You plan on playin’ basketball here? I saw ya writin’ stuff down.” Darna nodded and Jaqueline smiled brightly, and crossed her arms casually.

“Awesome, man! What position do you play?” Darna relaxed at the question, finally easing herself into the sudden conversation with a soon-to-be teammate.

“I played post.” Jaqueline nodded and looked her up and down, obviously sizing her up.

Darna wasn’t a very “post-looking” player. She was tall, sure, but she was skinny and looked like she could be blown over with a slight wind. 

“I play better than I look like I would.” She said and Jaqueline startled a little bit and Darna gave a little huff. Jaqueline scratched behind her head, embarrassment obvious at being found out what she had been thinking of.

“Sorry, it’s just yer so skinny! For a post at least.” She said and sighed, smiling. “‘Course, you prob’ly get that all the time.” Darna shrugged and smiled at Jaqueline. She was an honest one, which Darna liked.

“My sister, Analyn, plays a good point. My sister Rosamie’s shot is off the charts, at least when she’s confident.” Darna bragged and Jaqueline grinned and slapped Darna’s back, surprising the bragging girl a little.

“I’ll bet so! Well, I better get to class, so I’ll see ya around…?” Jaqueline trailed off, waiting for Darna to finish her sentence as Jaqueline started to skadaddle down the hall.

“Darna Mims,” she smiled, all teeth, “and yeah, I’ll see ya around Jaqueline!” Darna waved as Jaqueline did and the girl with the weave turned around and began to weave herself through the hallway that was flushed full with students.

Reinvigorated to remember not to forget to tell her sisters and parents about basketball, Darna made her way down the hall.

As Darna skillfully dodged rushing teenagers down the confusing halls of Johnathan High, she saw her sister Rosamie talking to a girl with frizzy black-hair. Her sister was probably chatting the girl’s ear off, judging by the slightly annoyed light that lit the girl’s dark blue eyes. Rosamie didn’t notice (or didn’t care) and kept rambling about something or other, pushing her black-framed glasses back up with a tan finger when her motions got too sporadic for them to stay still.

_ Seems like she’s already making friends, _ Darna thought with a gentle turn-up of her lips. It was an age-old truth that with Rosamie, you could put her into a room full of strangers and at least walk out with three new friends.

Rosamie must’ve said something funny as the bitter-looking pale girl smirked at something her sister had said, before quickly schooling her expression back into it’s aloof look. Darna smiled at this and made her way towards her first class,  _ Political Science. _


	7. Lacie Hart and Evelyn Huffman: Confessions in a Small Red Car

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Lacie Hart and Evelyn Huffman, best friends who do everything together as they go to the first basketball practice at Johnathan High.

Lacie Hart was best friends with Evelyn Huffman. They did everything together! Even if one of them didn’t like whatever they did, they did it together nonetheless.

Lacie didn’t particularly care for soccer, but she played it for Evelyn, Evelyn didn’t really  _ like  _ track and field per se, but she did it for Lacie. That was just how their friendship was. If one of them did something, the other was soon to follow in their footsteps.

Luckily, both of them enjoyed basketball, so when the time finally came for the first practice, they both got into Lacie’s small red car and sang at the top of their lungs together as they sped down the road towards Johnathan High.

“You ‘cited Evie?” Lacie asked with a knowing glint to her grin as the song faded out. Evelyn turned the aux down, and smiled brightly at Lacie.

“Yeah! I wonder who all will be there.” Evelyn pushed back a lock of warm brown hair and tucked it behind her ear. Lacie seemed to be in thought for a moment, eyes still carefully trained on the road as she did so.

“Well, Mayu and Jaqueline, obviously.” Lacie started and Evelyn nodded her assent. Yeah, you couldn’t go to Johnathan High and  _ not _ know that those two were on the basketball team. Those two  _ loved _ basketball with their entire heart. It was both intimidating and admirable to see them get so invested into something. It oftentimes inspired Evelyn and Lacie to work harder.

“Yeah, Charlotte, Idris, Karla, and I think Anthony’s sister are playing this year.” Evelyn said and Lacie quirked a shapely dark brown eyebrow.

“Anthony’s sister? What’s her name again? Sarah, right?” Lacie asked and Evelyn snorted, to which Lacie took a moment to shove her shoulder for laughing at her. That just made Evelyn laugh harder, doing her little pig snort that everyone else found annoying, but Lacie found downright adorable. Everything about Evelyn was adorable to her.

With that thought, Lacie was blushing a little bit, and didn’t hear whatever Evelyn had said. The brunette noticed this and poked her best friend with her finger. Lacie jolted, and Evelyn snorted again.

“Did you even hear what I just said?” Evelyn asked, already knowing the answer. Lacie blushed, it even showing through her tan skin, which just made Evelyn laugh again. At least she was laughing, even if it  _ is _ at me, Lacie thought.

“Shut up! I was listening! You were talking about, uh, Sarah…” Lacie trailed off and Evelyn rolled her eyes. She huffed a breath, obviously amused.

“Solvo. Her name is Solvo.” She said simply and Lacie scoffed.

“Oh come off of it, I knew that. For sure.” Evelyn shook her head, smiling creeping its way onto her pale face. Evelyn pushed her gold-rimmed glasses up her nose and grinned at Lacie, who saw it out of the corner of her eye, as she  _ was _ watching the road like a good lil’ driver.

“Anyways,” Lacie continued and Evelyn rolled her eyes amusedly. “Is Solvo any good you think?” Lacie asked.

“What’re you on about? Of course she’s good! We watched one of her eighth-grade games last year together! Don’t you remember?” Lacie tried to remember and eventually found the memory, as that was the game they went to where Solvo drove to the hoop through three defenders. It was very impressive.

“Yeah, I remember. She was the one that drove through all those people, yeah?” Evelyn nodded and Lacie grinned.

“Yeah, she’ll probably be a secondary starter for that. Her speed’s off the charts.” Lacie said and Evelyn nodded.

“I heard there’s gonna be a couple of new players besides them.” Evelyn drummed her fingers on the dashboard, to which made Lacie glance at those perfectly delicate hands, making her face heat up again at the thought. She was a downright mess, huh?

“Oh yeah? Who all is new?” Evelyn stopped drumming her fingers and she put up her right hand, presumably to count off the new players. 

“Well, there’s these girls, sisters. The Mims, I think their last names are. Three of ‘em, a freshmen, a sophomore, and a junior. I know the oldests name’s Darna, I don’t know about the others.” Evelyn paused, seemingly in thought about something before continuing. “I heard Jaq talking about her. She’s apparently real skinny, but she plays post.” Lacie turned on her turn signal, and as she rounded around the corner.

“Hmm… I think I have Darna in my math and Spanish class.” Evelyn’s eyebrows raised a tad.

“Oh really? She smart?” Lacie shrugged.

“I dunno, I’m not exactly the brightest, that’s why I’m in the slower-learning classes. She could just be there ‘cause she’s new and I’ve heard all the smart-kid classes have been really full this year.” Evelyn made an affronted noise and Lacie turned her head to her in confusion.

“What-”

“You’re pretty damn smart, Lacie. Don’t say shit like that. ‘I’m not exactly the brightest’, my ass.” Evelyn huffed and Lacie’s face lit up red once again. Evelyn was too nice, Lacie thought as she pulled into the school parking lot. She looked at the time, which said 3:30.

“Oops, we got here earlier than I thought.” Lacie said, trying to change the subject so her heart could calm down. Evelyn noticed this and she waved off the topic, as she hated seeing her best friend even the tiniest bit uncomfortable. But not before saying her final piece.

“You are smart, Lacie. Just ‘cause the teachers and your family don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s true. You’re the damn brightest one in this whole shitty school, got it?” Lacie’s heart screamed in her chest at those words and the gentle tilt of Evelyn’s lips.

“Evie I-” Lacie coughed into her first. Was she really going to do this? Now? Right before practice? What if she messed everything up?! What if-

“What is it, Lacie?” Evelyn asked gently as she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned her attention towards the panicking girl, trying to calm her down with just her voice. 

“I- I don’t wanna mess this up…” Lacie was breathing a little heavier than normal, and Evelyn’s eyes widened, and she put a warm hand on her shoulder, and cupped another to Lacie’s face, her brown eyes tearing up.

“Shh, shh… What’s got you all worked up, Lacie?” Evelyn asked, and Lacie leaned her face into Evelyn’s delicate touch.

“I, I don’t want you to hate me…” Lacie said, her voice cracking at the end, tears running their way down Evelyn’s pale hand. Evelyn’s eyes widened, and she grabbed Lacie’s face with both hands, making her face her. Lacie gently gripped her hands, her brown eyes wide with fear and wonder.

“Now you listen here, Lacie Hart. I could  _ never _ hate you. I don’t know what gave you even the slightest  _ notion _ that I could hate you, but I could  _ never  _ hate you. Do you understand?” Evelyn said gently, but with a force behind her words that made Lacie startle, as she had never heard that kind of seriousness in her best friend’s voice before.

“Now, what is it that you want to tell me?” Evelyn’s bright blue eyes looked into Lacie’s brown ones, eyes twinkling in the afternoon light, sun shining through Lacie’s shitty small red car, making golden light shine onto Evelyn’s pale face and warm brown hair. Lacie’s hands clenched so hard she thought her nails were going to cut open her palms. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like she was going to have a heart attack.

But she  _ had _ to do this. Evelyn  _ had _ to know just  _ how much _ Lacie cared for Evelyn.

How much Lacie loved Evelyn.

“I- I love you, Evie.” Lacie whispered softly into the air and shut her eyes, too afraid to open them and see a potentially disgusted face on her best friend’s face. Evelyn made a confused noise, oblivious to what Lacie was so worked up about.

“I love you too? Is that what you were so worked up about?” Evelyn sounded so confused that it hurt Lacie to have to say it again, have to  _ clarify _ what she meant.

“N-No, you don’t understand.  _ I love you. _ ” Lacie said and gentle grabbed Evelyn’s head and pushed it towards hers. She made the movements slow enough that if Evelyn was truly disgusted with what Lacie was doing, she could move away at any moment. Lacie’s eyes were closed, so she couldn’t see that Evelyn’s eyes were widening with understanding, but she was still with shock.

When their lips met, Lacie felt like the entire world closed in around them, like nothing else existed besides them and Evelyn’s soft lips against hers. Evelyn didn’t move, and Lacie didn’t wait to see if she would. Lacie pulled away slowly, trying to savor the taste and feeling of her best friend’s lips against hers, the warm that she had felt with no other before.

“Oh,” was all Evelyn said, and the moment was broken for Lacie and her panic came back full force. Evelyn didn’t look disgusted or mad, her face completely emotionless. She was processing.

“Y-yeah. Oh.” Lacie said, if only to break the silence that had settled over the two in the small red car in the school parking lot, forty-five minutes away from their first basketball practice together. 

“That’s what you were so worked up about?” Evelyn’s facial expression finally softened and Lacie made a confused noise. What was she talking about? Was she not mad? What-

Lacie didn’t even see it coming, the quick, snake-like movement as Evelyn wrapped Lacie in her arms awkwardly over the middle of the car. Lacie was thoroughly confused, hugging her best friend back.

“What-”

“Shut up, stupid. C’mere.” Before Lacie could respond, the soft lips were back on Lacie’s. Lacie’s mouth was still against Evelyn’s before the shock wore off and they became pliant against hers. 

Lacie wasn’t even ashamed when Evelyn pulled away and she made a whimpering noise after the warmth against her lips was gone.

“I love you too, dumbass.” Evelyn cupped Lacie’s face in her soft, warm hands again and Lacie leaned into her touch once again.

“I-I’m so happy, I-I-” Lacie was making whimpering and happy little noises as her happiness drowned out her intelligence to speak.

“Yeah, me too Lacie. I’m so so happy that you told me.” Evelyn cuddled as well as she could against Lacie before her eyes met the clock.

“4:00?!” Evelyn yelled and Lacie startled against her chest, then she processed what Evelyn had said and she jumped up, her face a little red from being squished against Evelyn’s body.

“Oh shit, I-I’m sorry, we gotta go!  _ Oh my God-” _ Evelyn laughed at her best friend as she completely forgot what had just transpired and leapt out of her car, forgetting her keys as she locked it, leaving both them and Evelyn in the small red car. Evelyn was cackling as she heard Lacie’s frustrated scream when she couldn’t open her trunk, and another when she couldn’t find her keys. 

“Evelyn stop laughing and help me find my keys! We’ll be late, hurry up!” Evelyn laughed and smiled so brightly, looking at her best friend with her hands on her hips as she was scowling at the laughing girl inside the car before she spotted her keys and began screaming at Evelyn to  _ “Get off your lazy ass and give me my keys! Do you want to run laps, huh?!” _

Yeah, everything was perfect, Evelyn thought as she grabbed Lacie’s keys and opened the door. Nothing could be better than being together with her best friend, about to do something they love together, and just being together just in general.

“I love you,” Evelyn whispered into Lacie’s ear and she blushed red to the tips of her ears, making Evelyn pig-snort again. 

“Hey, y’all better hurry up! Coach Seaburg ain’t gonna wait up for y’all just because it’s the first practice!” Jaqueline yelled and Evelyn waved at her while Lacie rebooted.

“Hey, c’mon, let’s go, Lacie.” Evelyn said and held out her hand when they both had their bags and the car was locked  _ without _ Lacie’s keys in it.

Lacie looked at her hand, then back at Evelyn, and then back at the hand before taking it in hers gently.

Yeah, this was perfect, the pair of best friends thought in tandem as they made their way towards the school.

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was kinda realistic. I tried, haha.  
Tell me if I should change anything!  
Again, Happy New Year!


	8. The Mims: The First Practice

When Rosamie walked into Johnathan High’s gym, she didn’t expect to see Lizzy Phenton standing there, looking awkward as she held the ball with unsure hands. Her frizzy black hair was tied tight into a ponytail, making a massive mane of hair explode from the back of her head. She was either looking at the floor or at the ball, never seeming to decide which one was better. 

Her sisters, Analyn and Darna, noticed where she was looking and Darna smiled knowingly.

“‘S that your new friend, Rosie?” Darna asked and the littlest sister shrugged a bit, shifting her gym bag from one shoulder to the other. Analyn watched Lizzy with careful eyes, analytical.

“She’s not my  _ friend _ per se, but I think we’re almost there!” Rosamie whispered excitedly and Darna ruffled her sister’s hair with affection. Analyn stopped watching Lizzy to turn her attention towards her sisters, a tired smile on her face.

“Come on, we gotta get ready, practice starts in about twenty.” Analyn began to make her way towards the doors that led to the girls’ locker room. Soon though, her sisters shoved her out of the way, to which Analyn made an affronted noise.

“What the hell, you two!” She yelled, but her sisters weren’t listening. They were racing, presumably. Rosamie was a little quicker than Darna, but Darna had the advantage of just  _ fucking throwing  _ her  _ bag right at Rosamie’s back oh my God- _

“You two, behave!” Analyn yelled, stomping over to help Rosamie up, and glared at Darna who just scratched her head sheepishly. Analyn just sighed, wondering why she had to be the voice of reason between them. She wasn’t the oldest, it was supposed to be Darna’s job dammit!

“Let’s go get ready.  _ Calmly _ .” Analyn glared and her two sisters nodded, Rosamie picked her tossed back off the ground, same as Darna. 

As they were passing by, a tall Hispanic girl walked by the sisters, head down, feet shuffling across the wooden gym floor. She was fiddling with her hands and muttering to herself, probably trying to self-soothe herself.

Poor girl, Analyn thought as she opened the door to the girls’ locker room. When she opened the door, she was met with loud voices and laughing. Rosamie had no second thoughts before rounding the corner of the locker room, and smiled brightly at the prospect of meeting her new teammates.

Before the girls in the locker room noticed the sisters, the sisters took in the room and the girls themselves. One tall girl of asian descent was talking with an equally tall, but much more bulky girl that Darna recognized as Jaqueline. They seemed to be talking about basketball, go figure.

In the corner of the room, two girls were getting changed together, and talking as they did so. The girl with dark brown hair must’ve said something funny, as the girl with the short-cut brown hair stopped pulling up her shorts to ugly-snort at whatever she had just said. The girl who said the joke pointed and laughed the girl, a twinkle of fondness in her deep brown eyes.

In the other corner, there was an African-American girl talking with three other people, one of them of Hispanic, judging by her soft accent when she spoke in kind to the others. A skinny, tan girl with gold-rimmed glasses shoved the Hispanic girl with a hand, laughing as she did so. The blond-haired girl tied her hair up, revealing hearing aids that adjourned her small pink-tinted ears.

A  _ very  _ tall girl with a high, strawberry-blonde bun that sat atop her head walked towards where the three sisters were standing, bumped into Darna on accident as she had been fiddling with her water bottle and a toy in her hand.

Darna, thankfully, took it in stride and asked if the girl was okay. The tall girl looked a little fearfully at the sisters, before her eyes darted away from all of their gazes, refusing to meet any of theirs. 

“Y-yes. I am okay. S-sorry for bumping into you.” She quickly made her exit, eyes trained towards the floor, shoulders high and tight. Darna tried to reach out, but Analyn gripped her reaching hand and shook her head.

“I don’t think she’d like being touched.” Analyn said simply and Darna nodded, not quite getting it, but she knew her sister was usually right about these kinds of things, so she listened without argument. 

Rosamie took this opportunity to run off without either of her sisters knowing, skirting away quickly to throw on her practice clothes and tie up her short, dark brown hair. When her sisters noticed this, they quickly followed suit and got ready, leaving before any of the other girls in the locker room noticed them.

When the sisters walked out and began their way towards the ball cart, Analyn noticed that the really tall girl was talking quietly to the girl with the black hair, which sort of surprised the middle sibling, as she expected both of them to stick to themselves. Maybe they knew each other?

Rosamie, once again, ran ahead and grabbed a ball and dribbled confidently towards the two quietly conversing girls, too fast for Analyn to gain control of her; to tell her that they were talking and that she shouldn’t interrupt.

The youngest Mims sister, unsurprisingly, interrupted the two girls, leading to the tall girl to turn away and play with her toy as Lizzy looked a little lost at the sudden interruption.

“Hey, Lizzy! Who’s your friend?” Rosamie nodded her head towards the girl not facing them, obviously not picking up on the girl’s discomfort.

“Their name’s Nova.” Lizzy answered and Rosamie nodded and ran around to try and meet the tall girl’s, now known as Nova, gaze. Nova turned away again, and Rosamie, still not picking up on Nova’s discomfort, tried again. 

She was stopped when Lizzy grabbed her arm and yanked her away from Nova and back to her side. Rosamie looked confusedly at Lizzy, and the black-haired girl huffed a breath and set her slightly-annoyed expression on her freckled face.

“They’re autistic, they don’t like being forced to look at someone, or talk for that matter. They’re nervous.” Lizzy explained matter-of-factly and Nova turned around to look at Lizzy with a slightly concerned expression on Nova’s face.

“I-I’m not nervous…” They trailed off, and Lizzy shook her head and took Nova’s hand gently, surprising the tall girl.

“You’re allowed to be nervous, isn't that what Markus tells you all the time?” Lizzy said and Rosamie remembered slightly of the other Phenton twin, Markus Phenton. Rosamie thought that she was intruding on a special, tender moment between the two girls and  _ finally _ left the two girls alone.

When she went back to her sisters, Darna cuffed her on the back of the head. Rosamie whined and rubbed her head, while Analyn shook her head and looked at the youngest with a knowing glare.

“You should know better than to bother people that don’t want to talk, Ros.” Analyn shook her head and Rosamie properly bowed her head in shame.

A few minutes later, all the girls from the locker room filed their way into the slightly-too-cold gym, each grabbing a ball and beginning to shoot or practice moves. Rosamie, Analyn, and Darna began to play a quick game of pig.

The entire gym was interrupted from their lazy goofing-off when the gym doors were opened and a man with crutches walked in.

“Hello, girls. Baseline!” The coach yelled and every girl went to put their ball back, some sprinting, some taking a leisurely jog to the ball cart. 

When all of the girls were lined up, some shaking with excitement, others with nervousness, and some with apathetic expressions on their face, the coach made his way to the middle of the floor and Rosamie could see that he was missing part of his left leg.

“My name’s Coach Seaburg.” He looked at the girls and smiled a little ferally. “Seems like we got a couple of new faces.” He pointed right at Lizzy and said with a small smirk, taking in her small frame and unsure posture

“What’s your name, shorty?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to introduce some of the girls, so be ready for that next chapter! I can't wait for y'all to meet them! I love them with all my heart, and I hope y'all will too!


	9. Lizzy: First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzy's first day of basketball practice.

When Lizzy was pointed at by the coach of the team, she thought that her soul had ascended from this plane of existence. Why in the world was  _ she _ going first? She was nervous enough as is! Lizzy could feel her palms clamming up, sweaty and gross and  _ Jesus she didn’t want to be here- _

The coach coughed, gaining the panicking girl’s attention. She sighed, took a deep breath and schooled her expression into her normal blank face.

“My name is Lizzy Phenton.” She said simply and the coach nodded. He looked her up and down, sizing her up. Lizzy bristled at the attention and waited with a small glare on her face for the coach to finish his quick size-up. He made a small “Hmph”, to which Lizzy furrowed her brows to. But he eventually turned his attention towards all the girls again.

“In this program, we’ll be working on mostly fundamentals. Being fundamentally sound means wins, and I’ll bet you lot want to win, right?” He said and mostly everyone nodded at this, except a few who were too shy to respond in anyway. The coach nodded, taking in everyone’s quiet response.

“But,” he paused and looked at the girls with a large, almost animalistic grin. “You lot will have to  _ work _ for it.” He swept his gaze through the line of girls. He shrugged, shifting on his crutches. 

“For those who don’t give me your effort, your all, the bench is a lovely place to watch the game.” He grinned at the girls. Lizzy felt a shiver go down her spine when his eyes met hers for a split second. The coach then held up five fingers. 

“I only need five girls out there.” And he left it at that, as he turned around and headed to the middle of the floor. He pointed to Mayu, then to the ball cart and held up two fingers. She nodded and went to go and retrieve two balls from said cart.

“We’re going to start with half-court layups. Split into two even lines, start on the right side.” He looked at Mayu and an African-American girl with long black dreads tied with a scrunchie at the base of her head. “You two make it in two dribbles.” They nodded and Lizzy gulped. How the hell were they gonna make it  _ halfway across the damn court in  _ ** _two_ ** _ dribbles?! _ The coach then turned his attention back to everyone else.

“Everyone else makes it in four or less dribbles.” Lizzy felt her lungs close up. She could barely dribble  _ at all _ , never mind making it across half the court in four dribbles! But she kept her expression neutral as she looked around at everyone else to gauge their reactions.

To Lizzy’s horror, most of them seemed excited. 

Fuck, Lizzy thought as she ran to go rebound the ball for a tall, stocky Hispanic girl she’d never seen before (except maybe in the hallways without Lizzy really paying attention). She gave a quick nod for a thank you and ran back to her line. Lizzy scrambled and threw the ball to the next person in line, but it was a little short and it bounced right in front of the girl’s knees. Lizzy felt her face heat up in shame at the mistake and kept her head down as she went into the line.

_ Fuck fuck fuck. _

Lizzy then realized when it was her turn in line that she had  _ no fucking idea what a ‘layup’ was. _ Lizzy felt like crying when it was her time to go and the girl behind her reminded her to go. She hadn’t even been watching what all the person in front of her had been doing, so she really had no idea to what she was supposed to be doing. 

But Lizzy took an unsteady dribble and sprinted towards the basket, dribbling even worse with her right hand, as she was left handed. She dribbled the ball off of her foot and she literally felt her world shatter when it did.

It rolled away and smacked gently against the wall. Lizzy felt red hot embarrassment cloud her face. How fucking embarrassing.  _ How fucking embarrassing. _

“Don’t mind, don’t mind!” She heard Mayu yell, but she didn’t really hear Mayu yelling. All she could hear was white noise. Her breathing felt funny, and her chest hurt. She felt like throwing up-

“Hey, don’t-don't worry, I do that all the time.” Said a voice quietly. Lizzy turned her head up to the sound of the voice and saw Romina Esperanza looking at her with sympathy. Romina then looked towards the coach, grabbed Lizzy’s arm, to which Lizzy almost protested to but didn’t for some reason, and dragged her across the court to where the coach was standing.

“H-Hey, Coach Seaburg?” Romina asked quietly and he turned to her with a slight hum.

“Yes, Esperanza?” His gaze locked with Lizzy’s, and his eyes softened ever-so-slightly with sympathy. Lizzy hated it. She glowered at him, eyes still rimming with soon-to-be tears. He sighed and pointed to where the locker rooms were.

“Go ahead. I know I can trust you to do a layup correctly.” He said and Romina nodded in thanks. Lizzy, still confused as to what was going on, followed dumbly behind Romina as she dragged her towards the girls’ locker room.

When they entered, Lizzy felt herself being gently sat down, and she looked up in angry confusion at Romina, who fiddled with her shirt nervously. Lizzy then remembered the time she had yelled  _ very _ rude things towards Romina. Lizzy bowed her head in shame at the memory, and as if Romina knew what she had been thinking, the tall Hispanic girl tipped her head up towards Romina’s and saw nothing but kindness in her deep brown eyes.

If Romina wanted to talk, Lizzy would listen this time.


	10. Romina and Lizzy: A Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romina's awkward and Lizzy doesn't know how to people. But it's alright, they'll figure it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the really late update, basketball, exams, and other general life things came in the way of me writing this short chapter. It shouldn't be too long before the next update. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Romina had then climbed up the lockers, scaling them with expert hands, long legs making it easy for her to reach the top of them to leap onto. Once Romina was up there, she looked back down at Lizzy and patted the spot next to her on top of the black lockers. Lizzy gave an unsure expression, wondering if she’ll even be able to get up there by herself.

Lizzy stood on her tip-toes and she could barely get the tips of her fingers to the tops of the lockers. Lizzy flushed red, embarrassed at her lack of height. The Uruguayan girl smiled a little, but not unkindly. She reached a hand out for Lizzy to grab, to which Lizzy looked at a little unasuredly. But after a few silent moments, Lizzy gripped Romina’s hand in her hand as Romina hefted her up onto the tops of the lockers.

Lizzy felt the warmth of Romina’s hand tingle hers long after Romina had let go. The short black-haired girl looked into Romina’s kind eyes and saw the gentle curve of Romina’s lips. The soft expression looked right at home on her face. Lizzy felt her heart be a little saddened by this fact. Not for Romina, however, but for herself. She felt her usual frown making its way onto her face, eyebrows downturned and mouth sloping downwards instead of upwards. She has tried in the past to smile, but she was eventually told by someone that it looked like she was in pain whenever she did, so Lizzy stopped smiling so freely. She was embarrassed about it.

While Lizzy was getting lost in her head, Romina gently tapped her shoulder, a question written on her face; one that Lizzy had seen too many times.

“Sorry,” Lizzy mumbled, “can you repeat what you said?” The short girl asked and Romina smiled, if a little more tired than before. Lizzy hated the note of tiredness in it.

“It’s-it’s fine.” Romina tilted her head and sighed out a breath and she smiled at Lizzy. “I rea-really hope this doesn’t come out as rude or, or something, but…” She trailed off and Lizzy huffed, prepared for the worst.

“Um, is-is it your first year play-playing basketball?” Romina asked and Lizzy let out a relieved breath. That’s all she was going to ask, thankfully. Lizzy didn’t quite know what she was expected. 

“Yes.” Lizzy replied shortly and Romina nodded before she widened her eyes and her hands spazzed out.

“I re- I really didn’t mean it as-as an insult! I, um, just thought that, may-maybe y-you could want some… some point-pointers? Oh God, I sound so-so rude, I’m sorry, why did I even ask to t-talk to you? I’m s-such a mess…” Romina rambled and Lizzy, not knowing what to say or do, just sat there in silence. Romina eventually stopped herself and Lizzy stared blankly at her. The Uruguayan huffed out a nervous laugh, probably out of reflex.

“N-now I’m being rude  _ and _ take-taking you out of practice to just hear-hear me stutter through a-another conversation.” Romina put her head in her hands. Lizzy thought she could hear a small utterance of  _ “I’m useless, oh my God.” _

“You’re not being rude. I wouldn’t mind some pointers. I have no idea what I’m doing out there. Please don’t call yourself useless.” Romina looked up in surprise from her hands, which Lizzy could understand as she was just as surprised that she had said that.

“O-oh. Okay. Um. Wh-What…” Romina trailed off and looked at her hands, seemingly collecting her thoughts. Lizzy waited without speaking, not knowing if she should look  _ at _ the stuttering girl or  _ away _ from her.

Lizzy felt so out of her element, talking one-on-one with someone. With someone who wanted to  _ help _ her, nonetheless. The short, awkward girl decided on the latter and looked away from Romina, hoping that it would lessen the stress of Lizzy with her not-so-kind expression that could’ve been mistaken as impatient. 

“I-I could help you wi-with basketball, if y-you want.” Romina eventually stuttered out, and Lizzy looked at her with a little bit of surprise. Romina was looking at her hands, eyes flicking to meet Lizzy’s briefly before quickly looking away.

“I-I’ve been playing basket-basketball for a while n-now, and um, I could h-help you before and a-after practices. Y’know, to um, practice ball handling and shoot-shooting. If-if you want, of-of course” Romina stuttered.

Lizzy felt shocked that someone would help her willingly and felt herself nodding before she could stop herself. 

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Lizzy was just surprising herself so much today. Romina smiled brightly, like Lizzy had just hung the moon for her and Lizzy shifted uncomfortably, not used to the attention, good attention at that.

“Cool!” Romina grinned, then faltered, falling back into herself just as quickly. “Um, um, we should pro-probably get back out there, coach-coach’ll wonder w-why we’re taking so long.” Lizzy nodded.

“Thank you, Romina. This-this made me feel a lot better.” Lizzy admitted and then internally scolded herself. She should’ve just left it at the ‘thank you”. 

Romina looked surprised for a second, before smiling brightly and shakily. 

“It-it’s not a problem at all, Lizzy! A-Anytime!” She said to Lizzy, making another warm feeling spread through Lizzy’s usually cold chest. She then hopped off of the lockers and left the locker room swiftly. 

Lizzy stood there for a few seconds, before steeling herself and making her way outside of the locker room, sparing a small glance to where she and Romina had just been sitting. Lizzy huffed out a sigh, and turned out the lights to the room before closing the door behind her.

The sounds of basketballs hitting the floor felt oddly familiar to Lizzy, even though she had never really listened for them before. 


End file.
